Guardian
by The Bard2
Summary: Sequal to Restoration
1. Hell Hath

Title - Buffy, The Vampire Slayer - Guardian : Hell Hath  
  
Author - Shane A. Hopkins (thesorcererbard@I-am-the-key.com)  
  
Rating - PG  
  
Pairing - Spike and Dawn  
  
Disclaimer - What I don't own. Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything related to them. What I do own. Everything not owned by the above mentioned people / companies is owned by me but you may use any of it as long as you give me credit.  
  
Authors Note - It is highly recommended that you read my 6 part story, Restoration for the back story to this story.  
  
Authors Note 2 - The lead demon (Dev) was created by Force Master, as part of a small challenge that I put to The Dawning Group.  
  
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Guardian : Hell Hath  
  
"Are you okay, Dawn?" Buffy asked.  
  
They were sitting at the kitchen counter eating the oddly shaped pancakes that Tara had made for breakfast. It was less than a month after Dawn had been brought back to life by the Powers That Be and used by them to change the timeline, That spell hadn't worked and they were getting back into their regular routine.  
  
"Mmm." Dawn said with a nod.  
  
Willow looked at Tara with a smile.  
  
"Anyone got my blood?" came Spike's voice from the door to the basement.  
  
"Here." Willow said handing him a mug from the microwave.  
  
Spike takes a sip, "Just the right temperature."  
  
Buffy and Tara, who were looking at him, both cringed.  
  
"Um, Tara." Dawn said, looking at the stovetop.  
  
"Yea, Dawnie?" Tara answered.  
  
"Your pancakes are burning." Dawn told her pointing at the frying pan.  
  
On the outskirts of Sunnydale there is a small park and playground where a recently restored sign reads 'Welcome to Sunnydale'. Suddenly a trio of motorcycles crash through the sign.  
  
"A's at-ll ds'enykr n'ute n'kai." said the demon on the lead motorcycle.  
  
He was mainly humanoid with skin that looks like it was covered in blood. there are horned barbs on his elbows, wrists, knees and feet, and there are two horns in a ridge above his nose. The cloak hanging from the horns protruding from his shoulder blades flapped behind him as he got off his bike.  
  
"Yea, great, Dev, speak human will ya, I can't keep translating for Murray here." the second demon said indicating the vampire on the third motorbike. This demon was almost human except he had bright purple skin with glowing orange eyes and a single curved horn growing out of his forehead.  
  
"Why what'd he say this time, Bob?" asked the vampire called Murray.  
  
"He said 'We'll destroy this town' but you know how Dev likes his grandstanding." the demon called Bob said.  
  
"Iii do nnnot grandssstandd." Dev replied, he seemed to have problems pronouncing some words and letters.  
  
"Yeessh, if that's how you speak English I'd rather have Bob translate." Murray said with a frown.  
  
"Oon yooour biiikes and head foor the cccenter oof toown." Dev said mounting his motorcycle.  
  
"Hey, ya know what?" Bob asked.  
  
"What?" Murray asked back.  
  
"I hear this crappy town has a Slayer." Bob said back with a smile as the roared off down the road tearing up the lawn as they went.  
  
"Buffy, there's something coming your way." came Angel's voice over the Magic Box's phone.  
  
"What do you mean? " Buffy asked him.  
  
"Cordy had a vision of you and Dawn in danger." Angel told her.  
  
"Did she see from what?" asked Buffy.  
  
"No, all she said was big and bloody looking." Angel replied, "Oh, I've got to go, will you take care of Dawn and yourself?"  
  
"Yes, mother I will." Buffy said with a small smile.  
  
"Okay, I'll catch up with you later then." Angel said.  
  
"Bye." Buffy said before Angel hung up. Buffy held the receiver for a fraction of a second before hanging up. She still had trouble talking to Angel after all the trouble they had had.  
  
"Well, what did Dead-boy have to say?" asked Xander from the table.  
  
"He said that Cordy had a vision of danger for me and Dawn, he said that the creature was big and bloody looking." Buffy turned to Giles, "Sound familiar?"  
  
"That description fits quite a few demons actually." her watcher said coming out from behind the counter, "Although the most notable of them is the Devsh'k demon."  
  
"Why's he notable?" Dawn said coming down the steps from the front of the shop.  
  
"Because they are about 6 feet tall with tough skin that feels and looks like blood, they have hooked barbs at the elbows, wrists, knee and feet. With two horns in a ridge above the nose and flame red eyes. The males generally have broad, slightly rounded shoulders with horns protruding outwards from the shoulder blades, from which they usually hang a rough cloak."  
  
"Sounds icky." Dawn said.  
  
"Yes quite." Giles replied looking at her.  
  
"So he's number one on our list?" Buffy asked, "So are the team players or what?"  
  
"They have a tendency to hunt with other demons but usually not their own kind." the older man said, "They usually speak their own language so most of the demons they hunt with have some level of telepathy."  
  
"Mind readers? Cool." Xander said.  
  
"Yea, pack a hell of a wallop too." said Spike entering, through the workout room, from the ally at the back of the shop.  
  
"You've met one of them?" Giles asked.  
  
"Yea, Dru tried to recruit some of them back in, when was it, '56 or '59, one or the  
  
other, anyhow, Dru pissed them off, royally, and we got into a bit of a fist fight." said the platinum blonde haired vampire, "And let me tell you they use those hooked barbs on their wrists and feet."  
  
"So, who won the fight?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Neither, which brings me to the moral of this tale, don't fight demons with the Russians on your tale." Spike answered.  
  
"The Russians were after you? What did you do?" Dawn asked.  
  
"Stole some vodka." Spike answered with a smile.  
  
"Some vodka?" Xander said in amusement.  
  
"Well it was the property of the KGB." Spike said with a wider smile than before.  
  
"Um, back on topic here please?" Buffy said.  
  
"Right the Devsh'k, most of them call themselves Dev, which can get confusing." Spike smiled at Buffy,  
  
"Can you speak their language?" Giles asked.  
  
"Yea, it's a little rusty, ain't seen any since Dru tried to recruit em." he answered.  
  
"Then you're coming with me," Buffy said before turning to Willow and Tara, "Can you two find a spell to protect Dawn?"  
  
"Yea, shouldn't be too hard." Willow told her.  
  
"And what do you want me and Anya to do?" Xander asked.  
  
"Stay here with Giles and look after Dawn , in the physical sense." Buffy answered.  
  
"Well it'll be nightfall in about an hour an a half, so if we wait here till then, then we head out." Spike said.  
  
"Deal." Buffy said.  
  
"Hey Dev, isn't that Slayer's name Spring or Winter or something?" Bob asked as they roared down a street in suburban Sunnydale. It was night and there were very few lights on in the surrounding houses.  
  
"E'jo-os'ye." Dev answered.  
  
"That's it 'Summers'. Um should I point out then that we just passed her house?" Bob asked.  
  
Dev screeched to a halt and turned to look at Bob, who had screeched to a halt behind him, Murray on the other hand flew right past them and had to turn round and come back.  
  
"R'kj eva' nus El-vrsy'e uk'jes?" Dev asked.  
  
"Yea, her house is three or four back that way." Bob said throwing a thumb over his shoulder.  
  
"Dawn, will you sure you'll be alright?" Spike asked as he got up to leave with Buffy to go hunting Devsh'k demons.  
  
"Yea, Willow and Tara are here just in case and Xander is out patrolling the surrounding area." Dawn said, "I'll be fine."  
  
At that exact second a flaming bottle came flying through the living room window.  
  
To be continued. 


	2. No Fury

Title - Buffy, The Vampire Slayer - Guardian : No Fury  
  
Author - Shane A. Hopkins (thesorcererbard@I-am-the-key.com)  
  
Rating - R  
  
Pairing - Spike and Dawn  
  
Disclaimer - What I don't own. Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything related to them. What I do own. Everything not owned by the above mentioned people / companies is owned by me but you may use any of it as long as you give me credit.  
  
Authors Note - It is highly recommended that you read my 6 part story, Restoration for the back story to this story.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------  
  
Guardian : No Fury  
  
"Dawn, get down!" Spike yelled as he spun and caught the bottle, whirled round and threw it back out the window in the direction it came.  
  
"W-who is it?" Dawn stammered from underneath the table she had hidden under.  
  
"At a rough guess, I'd say someone who has it in for your sister." Spike said flattening himself against the wall beside the window.  
  
"Yea, but that would be almost the entire underground population of Sunnydale and then some." Buffy said taking up position on the other side of the window.  
  
Another flaming bottle came flying through the window. Buffy swung a kick and hit it back outside.  
  
"Most polite demons would just smash through the wall." Buffy said.  
  
And just to prove her point a purple skinned demon with a curved horn on his forehead burst through the wall beside where she was standing and grabbed her arms.  
  
"Oh no you don't!" cried Buffy as she thrust an elbow into the demons gut. the demon let out a grunt but didn't let go.  
  
Suddenly as if by magic a golden knight was standing beside Buffy with his sword drawn.  
  
"Let her go." the knight said quietly.  
  
"What ya gonna do about it, you're just a sideshow reject." the demon said.  
  
"Hey Bob, what's takin' so long?" came a voice from outside.  
  
The knight's sword dropped taking the demon, Bob's, head off in one clean swipe.  
  
"You're gonna have to burn the body!" Spike yelled, "That's a Bloatbed demon, they can live until the body is burned."  
  
"Thank you, but I do know of the demon breed." the knight said lowering his sword to the body which abruptly burst into flame and burnt in seconds leaving only a small pile of ash.  
  
"G'kos k'jn El-vrsy ky t'll g'kos ti vid ot'll r'kj v'll." came a loud voice from outside.  
  
"What did he say?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Um, Come out Slayer or I'll come in and something or other." Spike said.  
  
"Come out Slayer or I'll come in and kill you all." the knight said, "Your Devsh'kein is rusty is it not Vampire?"  
  
"Ya noticed did ya?" Spike said.  
  
"As'll au'vn te r'kj'y vi'easy?" came the voice again.  
  
"I will handle this." the knight said, "R'kj g'vi i'kn u-v'ws nut'e uk'jes t'n te jid'sy nus zy'knsg'ntki k'b nus Zk'asye Nu'vn F's!"  
  
The demon outside responded with a roar of anger.  
  
"What did you say to him?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I told him this house was protected." the knight answered, Spike gave him a funny look but didn't say anything.  
  
"Well I don't think he liked it much." Buffy said.  
  
There was a crack of thunder outside and a bolt of lightning touched down outside and there was a scream that could only be produced by a dieing creature.  
  
The creature that had roared earlier gave another roar before the sound of a motorbike engine was heard thundering off into the distance. Spike peeked his head round the edge of the broken window.  
  
"Looks like they've gone." he said.  
  
"yup, sure looks that way, better find Xander and get him to come and fix this window." Buffy said before turning to the knight, "Now if you're gonna keep popping up and helping us, then perhaps we need to know something about you, for instance what is your name?"  
  
"I am Adam Powers, I am the emissary of the Powers That Be." the knight answered as his suit of armour morphed into the latest in casual fashion.  
  
"The Powers That Be, huh?" said Spike throwing a glance at Dawn.  
  
"Do not worry the Key will remain safe as long as I am on this plain of existence." Adam answered.  
  
"This plain of existence?" Buffy said raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Yes, I am one of the Powers That Be, I am actually a non-corporeal entity." Adam said taking a seat in the nearest chair. He sat just a little too straight like he was still getting used to being human.  
  
"Make yourself at home." Buffy said sarcastically.  
  
"Thank you." Adam said, if he noticed the sarcasm he didn't let it show.  
  
"Shit." roared Dev in his native tongue.  
  
"You have failed us, my son." came a voice in the same language from behind him.  
  
"Father, I was given no choice, the light wielders interfered." Dev replied to the almost identical demon behind him.  
  
The other demon hissed and said, "I have told you not to mention them!" and slapped Dev across the face.  
  
"I sublimate myself before you father." Dev said going down on bended knee.  
  
"As so you should." the other demon said.  
  
"Give me another chance father" Dev pleaded.  
  
"I give you one more chance, get another demon and vampire and destroy this town by ridding it of it's slayer." Dev's father said.  
  
"Thank you father." Dev said getting up, turning and walking down the ally.  
  
"If you fail this time my son, you will die a thousand deaths." his father said in a whisper.  
  
"So this Devsh'k demon, what would it want?" Giles asked Adam. The entire gang was gathered in the Summers living room, Xander, with Spike's help, was putting up some boarding to cover the broken window until the stores opened in the morning and he could get some replacement glass. Giles, Willow and Buffy were talking to Adam.  
  
"If my source is correct then he is after the slayer's powers, there is a clan of the Devsh'k who, it is rumoured, have found a ancient spell that allows the transfer of powers from one magical being to another." Adam said, he had relaxed a little in the chair he was sitting in.  
  
"And of course the slayer is a magical being." Willow said.  
  
"Correct." Adam said.  
  
"Why the purple demon and the vampire?" Giles asked.  
  
"This particular Devsh'k demon has a mission handed down from the clan elders the specifics are that he uses a Bloatbed demon and a male vampire as his backup." Adam said.  
  
"Yyoou wiilll coome wiiith me." Dev said to the purple demon sitting at the bar. He was in Willies Place, looking for a Bloatbed demon and a vampire to use as backup.  
  
"Na, piss off mate." the demon said, he spoke with an Australian accent and was just a little drunk.  
  
"Yyoou wiilll coome wiiith me!" Dev repeated more forcefully as he picked up the demon by his shoulders and lifted him a foot off the floor.  
  
"Hey pal why don't you leave him alone and come and have a drink." Willie said from the relative safety of his position behind the bar.  
  
"He wiilll coome wiiith me." Dev said looking at Willie.  
  
Dev punched the Bloatbed demon in the face knocking him out. He then threw him over his shoulder and walked out of the bar.  
  
Willie turned round and reached for the phone, he didn't really like to do this but he had no choice, demons couldn't just come in and take other demons out. He dialled a local number.  
  
"Hello?" Buffy said into the phone.  
  
"Hey, slayer, this is Willie." came Willie's voice.  
  
"What is it Willie, I've really got no time for this." Buffy said exasperatedly.  
  
"I just had a demon come in here and walk out with a Bloatbed demon over his shoulder." Willie told her.  
  
"Describe the demon." Buffy asked.  
  
Willie proceeded to describe the Devsh'k demon perfectly.  
  
"Ok Willie thanks that sounds like the demon we're after right now." Buffy said before hanging up the phone and turning to the gang, "The Devsh'k was just at Willie's, and he now has a Bloatbed on his team."  
  
"All he needs now is a vampire." Adam said.  
  
"Then I think it's time we give him one." Buffy said looking at Spike.  
  
To be continued. 


	3. Like A

Title - Buffy, The Vampire Slayer - Guardian : Like A  
  
Author - Shane A. Hopkins (thesorcererbard@I-am-the-key.com)  
  
Rating - R  
  
Pairing - Spike and Dawn  
  
Disclaimer - What I don't own. Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything related to them. What I do own. Everything not owned by the above mentioned people / companies is owned by me but you may use any of it as long as you give me credit.  
  
Authors Note - It is highly recommended that you read my 6 part story, Restoration for the back story to this story.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------  
  
Guardian : Like A  
  
"You cannot be serious!" Spike exclaimed. Buffy had just finished explaining her plan.  
  
"Deadly." Buffy replied then with a small smile said, "As in if you don't you'll be dead."  
  
"Buffy!" Dawn exclaimed.  
  
"Okay so I'm kidding, but if this Devsh'k demon finds a vamp and it's someone who wants me dead then we could all be dead." Buffy said looking at Spike, "If however it's you."  
  
"Yea, Yea I get your point." Spike said, he still didn't look too happy about it.  
  
"Well, well ain't this one of life's little surprises?" came a voice from behind Spike. He was sitting at the bar in Willie's, drinking a pint of O-neg, human not orang-utan.  
  
"What is mate?" Spike said as he turned round to see a badly dressed green skinned demon with purple horns sprouting from either temple.  
  
The demon looked at spike with pure blue eyes and frowned, "You should know  
  
better Spike."  
  
"Yea, Jimmy I do know better." Spike said, "Can I get ya a pint of WD40?"  
  
"Yea, why not it's not like it'll kill me." the demon, Jimmy said sitting next to Spike, "So how longs it been anyway, seventy, eighty years?"  
  
"Eighty, the last time we met was in Switzerland you were trying to catch that Dervish demon with the thing, what was it?" Spike said with a quizzical look.  
  
"The Ring of Tripolitan, the power center of the Tricentric Demon Council." Jimmy said with a smile.  
  
"Yea, that's it, how'd that work out for ya, anyway?" Spike said with a laugh.  
  
"They caught me and threw me into an Iraqi jail for the humanly challenged, spent a decade there." Jimmy said taking a swig of his drink, "Actually I meant to ask you, what were you doing there with that young brunette female? You know the one that's not quite human?"  
  
"What brunette?" Spike said looking at him with curiosity.  
  
"Never mind." Jimmy said with a wave of his hand, "So what's been happening with you?"  
  
"You know, the usual, human mobs, demon fights, an apocalypse or two, oh and Angelus almost got the world sucked into hell." Spike said with a smile as he thought back over his past activities, he came to the realisation that he actually preferred the life he was living right now.  
  
"So how's that Drusilla chick you used to hang out with?"  
  
"We broke up a couple of years back." Spike told him.  
  
"Oh, that's too bad, she was just a darling little crazed woman." Jimmy said with a smile, "How'd it happen?"  
  
"After the slayer defeated Angelus and sent him off to hell, me and Dru skipped town, we ended up overseas and she began carrying on with all sorts of demons, the final straw came when I caught her making out with a chaos demon." Spike said with a sad laugh.  
  
"Ouch, harsh so what did ya do to her?" Jimmy asked.  
  
"Nothing, I just couldn't bring myself to hurt her." Spike answered taking a gulp of his drink, "Came back here and got buggered up by some Government soldier boys, now I can't even hunt humans."  
  
"Yea, I heard 'bout that, it's the talk of the demon community." Jimmy said, "They said you been hunting them with the slayer."  
  
"Yea, but I won't hurt any demon that doesn't hurt me or the sla." Spike began  
  
"Yoou aare Sspiiike?" came a voice from behind them.  
  
"Who's askin' mate." Spike said not looking round.  
  
"Iiii am Devv." came Dev's voice. Jimmy turned round to look at him and promptly was hit across the room, which is hard to do to a seven foot tall demon.  
  
"Yyoou wiilll coome wiiith me." Dev said to Spike before hitting him on the head and throwing him over his shoulder.  
  
Willie who was standing behind the bar sighed and picked up the phone, he dialled Buffy's number and told her that Dev had taken Spike.  
  
"Right, phase one is under way." Buffy said putting down the phone.  
  
"The Devsh'k's got Spike?" Giles asked.  
  
"Yea, sounds like he wasn't too gentle with him either." Buffy said taking her seat.  
  
"So, now what?" Xander asked, coming out of the kitchen.  
  
"Now we wait." Adam said.  
  
"Giles, Xander lets go get weapons." Buffy said getting up again and heading towards the stairs.  
  
"Gottchya, Boss lady." Xander said with a cheesy grin as he and Giles followed her upstairs.  
  
"She has a hard time waiting?" Adam made it sound like a question.  
  
"Yea, she's been like that for as long as I've known here." Willow said with a small smile.  
  
She and Tara were curled up together on the couch. Dawn was standing in the corner of the room as far away from the windows as possible. Anya was in the kitchen trying to cook, Tara had been giving her some pointers over the last few weeks, she could now cook odd shaped pancakes with the greatest of ease.  
  
"What's going to happen once the demons and Spike get here?" asked Dawn.  
  
"Buffy with the help of Giles and myself will kill them." Adam said.  
  
"As simple as that?" Dawn asked in a disbelieving tone.  
  
"Yes." Adam simply answered.  
  
Willow, Tara and Dawn all stared at him.  
  
"Well Spike, my boy," The Bloatbed demon turned to the vampire, "This is the slayer's house?"  
  
"Yea, Fred, that's it." Spike answered.  
  
"lsn'e ot'll nu-so v'll." came Dev's voice from a few feet ahead of them.  
  
"Yea, kill em all." Fred said with a wicked smile.  
  
"Yea, all of em." Spike repeated with a small slightly false looking smile.  
  
They hopped off their bikes and began walking towards the house.  
  
"Hey Spike, I heard a rumour that you got a full access pass to this house, that true?" Fred asked.  
  
"Yea, what of it?" Spike answered.  
  
"Well, here's you with your access and you still ain't killed her." Fred said with a smirk.  
  
"Yea well this slayer's tough, and she's got friends." Spike said with a small look of annoyance at being reminded of his failures.  
  
"At-ll R'kj nak e'u'jn nus b'j-go j'z!" Dev hissed as he swung round and hit Fred and Spike across their faces.  
  
"Jeez, take a chill pill, boss." Fred said holding his jaw.  
  
"G'kos ki." Dev said turning back towards the house.  
  
"Show time." Adam said standing up.  
  
"What they're here?" Buffy asked. Giles, Xander and her were heavily armed with swords, stakes, crossbows and one uzi.  
  
"Hey, Buff when did you get an uzi?" Xander had asked.  
  
"A week before Dawn came back, I found I needed some extra firepower, the bullets are melted crosses with hollow tips filled with holy water." Buffy had answered.  
  
"I'll go in first." Fred said taking a step forward.  
  
"I'k, E'z-tos at-ll c'k ti b'tyen." Dev said as quietly as possible.  
  
"Me?" Spike asked his voice sounded a little frightened.  
  
"Yea, he said you go first." Fred said with a very disappointed tone.  
  
Spike walked up to the front door, kicked it in and jumped through, a second later a cloud of dust came wafting out the doorway.  
  
"Stupid vampire, got himself killed." Fred sneered.  
  
"Nuv'n ave nus z'l'vi." Dev said standing up.  
  
"The plan? What plan?" Fred asked.  
  
"Nut'e z'l'vi." Dev said picking Fred up and throwing him through the boarded up window.  
  
To be continued. 


	4. Woman Scorned

Title - Buffy, The Vampire Slayer - Guardian : Woman Scorned  
  
Author - Shane A. Hopkins (thesorcererbard@I-am-the-key.com)  
  
Rating - R  
  
Pairing - Spike and Dawn  
  
Disclaimer - What I don't own. Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and 20th Century Fox own Buffy the Vampire Slayer and everything related to them. What I do own. Everything not owned by the above mentioned people / companies is owned by me but you may use any of it as long as you give me credit.  
  
Authors Note - It is highly recommended that you read my 6 part story, Restoration for the back story to this story.  
  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------  
  
Guardian : Woman Scorned  
  
"So, what's their plan Spike?" Buffy asked seconds after he had come crashing through the door, and Willow had thrown a pile of dust back through the doorway, to give the impression that Spike had been dusted.  
  
"I don't know, Dev, that's the Devsh'k by the way, wouldn't tell me or Fred, that's the Bloatbed." Spike answered as he crouched down beside Buffy.  
  
Suddenly a Bloatbed demon came crashing through the boarded up window, it didn't look like he had came through on his own power, he looked like he had been thrown.  
  
He landed in such a way as to knock Giles and Xander over and pin them to the ground, the upside of this is that he landed on the pointy end of Xander's sword, and was quite out of it.  
  
Behind him the Devsh'k demon came through the hole. He looked round the room and saw Buffy crouched beside Spike, who he roared loudly at, he then spotted Dawn his eyes grew wide.  
  
"Nus Os'r?" came his guttural voice.  
  
Buffy realised who he was looking at and sprang into action, she swung her sword at Dev cutting a line in his arm, his purple blood welled up in the wound.  
  
"Gggrrrrr." growled Dev looking down at Buffy.  
  
Spike, meanwhile had sneaked round to the other side of Dev and came flying at him with the sword Buffy had given him.  
  
Dev swung his arm at Spike but missed and connected with the sword. Dawn gasped as she saw Dev's arm fall to the floor, it flopped around like a fish out of water.  
  
"Arrgg." roared Dev.  
  
Buffy came in and swung her sword at his other arm.  
  
Dev managed to avoid getting his other arm by throwing himself back out through the broken window, once outside he got up and ran to his motorcycle and roared off down the street, his driving wasn't exactly safe, but then it never is with only one arm.  
  
"Damn, he got away." Buffy said her voice full of annoyance.  
  
"Yea, and he broke my boarded up window." Xander said a little angrily.  
  
"But, we're all okay?" Giles said as he got up from where he had been knocked.  
  
"Yea." Xander said sitting up next to him, rolling off the Bloatbed demon. Adam got up from the seat he hadn't left since the fight began and walked over to the body, drew his sword and pierced the demons heart, the demon promptly burst into flame.  
  
"As for you!" Buffy exclaimed, "You didn't even help us!"  
  
"The Key was in no danger." Adam said calmly.  
  
"Even when Dev realised that Dawn is the Key?" Spike said equally angrily.  
  
"He was scared of her, so I saw no need to take action." Adam said.  
  
"Well we could all have been killed!" Dawn yelled at him.  
  
"You would not have and my obligation is to make sure you don't die." Adam said, "I must go now." with that he faded from view.  
  
"MISSION STATUS?"  
  
"TEMPORARILY ON HOLD."  
  
"WHY?"  
  
"A DEVSH'K DEMON IS AFTER THE SLAYER, I CANNOT PROTECT THE KEY WITH A DEMON ON THE HUNT."  
  
"VERY WELL, CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE SITUATION."  
  
"Why did Dev just take off?" Spike was thinking out loud, "I mean he realised that Lil-bit was the Key and then he more or less took off."  
  
"That's not the main priority right now." Xander said.  
  
"What do we do if Dev comes back?" Spike asked looking at Buffy.  
  
"We all arm up, and we relocate to Giles house." Buffy said springing in to motion.  
  
Less than forty minutes later they were finishing setting up shop in Giles living room.  
  
"Hey, G-man, you need to fill your fridge more often." Xander said standing in front of the open refrigerator.  
  
Giles just made a harrumph sound.  
  
"Do you think this Dev will find us?" Dawn asked from where she sat.  
  
"No, I don't think he has the recourses." Buffy said.  
  
"Yea, I mean he only found your house by accident, or so he said." Spike told her.  
  
There was a knock at the door. Giles got up from the couch and went over to the door and opened it.  
  
"Hello, I'm looking for a Miss Buffy Summers?" said the man in an army uniform.  
  
"I'm Buffy, what do you want?" Buffy said walking up behind Giles.  
  
"I regret to inform you that one Commander Riley Finn has been killed in action while on a classified mission, you are listed as one of those to be informed should this have ever happened." The man said looking a little uncomfortable.  
  
Buffy was speechless, she let out a sob as she sank to the floor, Willow came running up to her, Spike's emotions waged a great battle on his face, it seemed he wanted to both laugh over Riley's death and cry over Buffy's pain.  
  
"I am sorry to have to do this but we need you to sign a confidentiality form, in case of an information leak." the man said, still outside the doorway.  
  
"Yes, certainly, please come in." Giles said.  
  
"Thank you that's exactly what I wanted." the man said with a smile as his face morphed into that of a vampire. He lunged at Giles attempting to bite his neck.  
  
By this point Buffy was on her feet she had realised what was going on a fraction of a second before the vamp went after Giles. She grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and pulled him off and thrust him up against the wall.  
  
"Is he really dead?!" Buffy yelled.  
  
"Yes." hissed the vampire with a smile, "I was a colonel in the US army before I was turned, I was on my way to tell you."  
  
"You bastard." Buffy said barely above a whisper, she whipped a stake out from behind her back and thrust it into the vamps chest, "You utter bastard." she said as the vamp turned to dust.  
  
"Buffy I'm so sorry." Willow said walking up to Buffy and hugging her.  
  
"H-how c-could he j-just." Buffy stammered before breaking down completely.  
  
The gang could do nothing except look on as the slayer lost all control.  
  
Giles bent to pick up the papers the vampire had dropped.  
  
"He was on an extermination mission in the Amazon rainforest, after some." Giles paused, "Now that's not right, it says here that they were after a clan of Bloatbed demons."  
  
"Why can't that be right." Tara asked, of the group she was the least hit by Riley's death, as she had known him less that the rest.  
  
"The Bloatbed's are allergic to moist climates, they wouldn't last a day in a rainforest." Giles said looking confused, "Ah, I should probably mention that all that is classified by the US Military."  
  
"And your point would be?" Xander asked.  
  
"But there are other inconsistencies in this file." Giles said reading further.  
  
"Like?" Buffy asked, she still had tears rolling down her cheeks but her voice had become stronger and clearer.  
  
"Like, the Bloatbed's were spotted with a clan of Pigmy Mollusk, and they can't exist outside of the Antarctic circle." Giles said.  
  
"Why can't they exist outside the Antarctic circle?" Tara asked.  
  
"Because they're made from ice." Anya said.  
  
"Ice?" Tara asked.  
  
"Yup, living ice." Anya said.  
  
"Wow, there's a demon made off everything isn't there." Xander said  
  
"You have failed us again my son." said Dev's father.  
  
"I am sorry father, please give me another chance." Dev said as he bent down in front of his father.  
  
"I am sorry my son, but you cannot be allowed to fail us anymore." with that Dev's father drew a long blue bladed sword and swung it at Dev's head.  
  
Dev had just enough time to think that this shouldn't be happening before his head went rolling down the ally.  
  
"Word on the street is that Dev's gone for good." Spike said as he sat down on the couch in the Summers house. Three days had passed since the attack and things were slowly getting back to normal.  
  
"The word?" Anya asked.  
  
"Yea, some Spine-yak demon children found his head and are apparently playing football right now." Spike said with a smile.  
  
"Eww." said Dawn.  
  
"So we're safe?" Giles asked.  
  
"As safe as we are usually." Buffy said.  
  
**THE END** 


End file.
